Mexico will compete with the Panama Canal with a railway line

At least 12 are the types of infrastructure with which the AMLO government will seek to generate employment and improve the country’s competitiveness, according to the transition team member.

Panama’s inter-oceanic canal generates close to 3,000 million dollars a year to the Central American country, and the candidate elected to the presidency of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), wants a ‘slice’ of that cake.

The way in which it tries to achieve it is with the construction of a dry channel that crosses from the Pacific to the Atlantic, able to transfer merchandise coming from different parts of the world, according to César Cravioto Romero, next Commissioner of the reconstruction of Mexico City and part of the incoming government transition team.

“It is a train to connect the isthmus of Tehuantepec (in the state of Oaxaca) with the area of Minatitlán (in the state of Veracruz), which if we analyze it, is a shorter distance than the Panama Canal, but all by land, not maritime, “he said in an interview with Forbes César Cravioto in the framework of the Global Youth Leadership Forum (GYLF), which took place a few days ago in Cantabria, Spain.

The idea of the government of (AMLO), would be to construct a railroad of load, alternates to which it tries to build of passengers in the Mayan region to transport tourists. And although the total investment required for this has not yet been glimpsed, the action plans to put it in motion have been made. “We would seek to compete with the Panama Canal to attract goods arriving from Europe and Asia and thus be more competitive. It is not a project that will be ready in the first year, but we do intend it to start in 2019, “said César Cravioto, who participated in the forum in a panel on infrastructure in Latin America.

But the railroad that would cross from side to side in the Mexican southeast is just one of the important infrastructure projects to trigger employment and economic growth in the region, according to the transitional government member.

“The same Mayan train is another of the great projects to reactivate the economy of southern Mexico. As has been said, the idea is not only to stay in the Mayan Riviera, but to go to Chetumal, Yucatan, et cetera. The goal is for it to be a broad economic benefit that benefits that part of the country. ”

A third infrastructure project that César Cravioto listed has to do with giving better roads to many of the municipalities of the state of Oaxaca, particularly to the municipal capitals, considering that in many of them their roads are still dirt. “It is a program that seeks to connect all the municipal capitals. It’s not just about floor and now. We have to provide them with electricity and electrical infrastructure that illuminates better. ”

The same construction of the international airport is another factor to be considered in the detonation of important infrastructure for the country, beyond the place where it is decided to develop, said the member of the transition team.

“And the theme of the Mexico City-Querétaro train is also being taken up again. The Chinese have already been discussed on this matter. It is a pending issue that is leaving the current government and that is being valued by the next administration. It should be remembered that it was in 2015 when the SCT launched the tender for this train, which was subsequently suspended, arguing aspects of global economic uncertainty.

Other works that are part of the infrastructure project of the next government are two refineries that are intended to be built, with an estimated investment of 6,000 million dollars. “And before investing in them, we will look for 100% of those that already exist, to modernize them. This is going to be part of the great infrastructure investment of the next government. ”

In addition to this, César Cravioto considered the construction that is intended to be carried out by universities throughout the country as a trigger for internal growth to fulfill AMLO’s proposal that all young people have access to higher education, as well as the construction of hospitals and recreation parks.

“Another thing that the president-elect has said is that all the unfinished works by the current government are valued, retaken and, all that are important, are fulfilled. It is clear that leaving works in half does not benefit anyone. ”

CDMX will contribute to the plan

Regarding the work that is to be developed in Mexico City, the person in charge of the reconstruction due to the earthquake of September 2017 commented that only the investment destined to this area is 5,000 million pesos, but that there are other plans to develop another type of infrastructure beyond this budget.

“300 community social centers will be built and not only in poor areas where there is more violence. They aim to bring people all kinds of social programs of cultural, educational, sports and even employment. ”

A new plan for Mexico City, advances César Cravioto, is that of cable-buses. At least, he said, four are being considered. One of them would connect Gustavo A. Madero with Cuautepec. The investment for this project is estimated at 3,000 million pesos and would benefit 50,000 people in the area. “Instead of transferring an hour and a half, it will be 25 minutes at affordable prices.”

On the network of the metro system, the person in charge of the reconstruction said that at least the line 12 will be expanded and to assess what this transport requires in terms of maintenance of escalators, rails, and so on. “We want line 12 to reach the Observatory station. And yes, other lines are being valued. We are also seeing new investments in Metrobus, “he concluded.